Montreal marks 41st anniversary of Air India Flight 182 bombing
Families gather at Monk Island memorial to honour 329 victims, including 268 Canadians, killed in 1985 attack.
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Montrealers came together Tuesday evening at the Air India Memorial Site on Monk Island along the Lachine Canal to remember those lost 41 years ago when a bomb exploded aboard Air India Flight 182 en route from Toronto to Delhi.
The June 23, 1985 bombing killed 329 people, including 268 Canadians, when the plane went down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Ireland. It remains the deadliest terrorist attack on Canadian soil and was the worst aviation terrorism case in history before 9/11.
The memorial, built by victims' families, stands as a lasting place of remembrance. Since 2005, the federal government has observed June 23 as National Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism in memory of those killed in acts of terror in Canada and worldwide.
Among those keeping memories alive is 89-year-old Mahesh Sharma, a Concordia University professor who lost his wife Uma, daughters Sandhya and Swati, and mother-in-law Shakuntala in the attack. Sharma has created scholarships in their names at McGill University, Concordia University, and Royal West Academy.
Despite the tragedy's scale, the memorial and anniversary remain largely unknown. "Ninety percent of Canadians don't know," Sharma said previously. "Even in Montreal, people don't know this site exists." More than four decades after the bombing, justice has remained elusive — only one person, Inderjit Singh Reyaal, was convicted of manslaughter for constructing the bombs. Two other accused men were acquitted in 2005.